Police hail ‘great achievement’ as hare coursing drops by third

Hare coursing dropped dramatically after Cambridgeshire joined with six other police forces to tackle the "barbaric actions of a few".

Rural crime officers in Cambridgeshire said it was a “great achievement” as hare coursing fell by nearly a third.

The county’s police force teamed up with officers from six other counties in the east of England as part of the crackdown.

Incidents of hare coursing across the seven force areas fell from 2044 in 2020-2021 to 1415 in 2021-2022, a drop of 31 per cent.

Borders between the forces - Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent - were removed when using certain tactics, which has made apprehending and prosecuting offenders easier.

Sergeant Tom Nuttall, from Cambridgeshire’s rural crime action team, said: “This is a great achievement by all seven forces and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

“Our collaboration shows how determined we are to tackle the barbaric actions of a few that cause significant physical and mental harm to those in our rural communities.”

The agreement to remove borders between counties including Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Essex meant prosecuting offenders was made easier.

Norfolk’s rural crime officer, PC Chris Shelley said police tactics such as ANPR and shared information had been vital.

He said Community Protection Warnings (CPWs), Community Protection Notices (CPNs) and the granting of Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) had been used.

Nick Dean, chief constable of Cambridgeshire Police, hopes uniting forces and possible new government legislation to tackle hare coursing will help cut incidents even more.

He said: “This will hopefully reduce further incidents and allow our rural crime teams to concentrate on other issues that affect our communities.”

The agreement for all seven forces to come together was completed through the CPS.

Sally Robinson, a district crown prosecutor for the CPS, said: “We have built stronger cases for prosecution and made it harder for the perpetrators to offend in future.

“We will continue to work closely with the police and other partners to bring offenders to justice.”

Anyone who sees hare coursing taking place is asked to call police on 999.

If you have details of hare coursing and it’s not currently happening or have been a victim of the crime, call 101 or report on Cambridgeshire Police’s website.